Mobile job search is now easier

Sunday

Mar 10, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Joyce Lain Kennedy CAREERS NoW

Q Oh, the stories I could tell you about my 17-year-old daughter and her smartphone, but the too-familiar mishap of running it through the laundry isn't one of them. That's because she's on that phone all the time, talking and texting nonstop. I'm thinking, why shouldn't she put her phone addiction to good use by finding a summer job with it? What about all these mobile job apps I'm reading about? Do they only work on smartphones? — B.J.

A A mobile app is a software program you can download to use on your mobile phone or another mobile device, such as a tablet. Not all apps work on all mobile devices. Some mobile apps are also compatible with desktops and laptops, both Mac and PC, but check the details to make sure.

The appeal of apps as job-finding tools has skyrocketed within the last few months. As a recent BusinessInsider.com headline shouted, “Suddenly, Everyone Is Using Smartphones to Find Jobs.”

The explanation is that improved recruiting technology that's only recently become available now drives more job seekers to go mobile. In the old days (last year), candidates could not submit a complete application on a mobile device. Now they can do so on any device that has Internet access — smartphone, tablet or desktop.

Among an exploding number of mobile job apps are some established services and some new ventures, including LinkedIn, SimplyHired, TweetMyJobs, HireADroid, CareerBuilder, Monster and Proven. Most mobile job apps can be downloaded for free — check out your favorite app store.

Get more quick app information by browsing for a short tutorial, “Understanding Mobile Apps,” at OnGuardOnline.gov. If you want to use a mobile app on a desktop, visit BlueStacks.com.

Q I have good days and bad days at work. I was planning to change jobs soon, but now I'm rethinking that decision with the recent uncertainty about the effects of the government sequester. I'm debating whether to stay put or make a move. — G.G.

A Whether the job market is up or down, people die or leave their jobs. This means that, minus the jobs shipped overseas, some good opportunities are always available.

You may ultimately choose to remain planted for the time being, after factoring in the following points:

•Your personal life is chaotic (divorce or ill family members) and your judgment is off.

•You're learning new skills, gaining useful contacts or are being paid extremely well and you want to squirrel away the money for future rough patches.

•Your boss is retirement age and you're a strong succession candidate.

•You're winding up an important project for which you can claim major kudos.

Which side of your ledger has more weight: delight or dissatisfactions? Work from that evaluation to make your decision.

QMy friends and I have a very commercial idea for a website, but we don't know where to find backers with enough capital. Ideas? — T.F.

AIt's always a huge startup question: Where's the money going to come from? A new book answers with authority: “What Every Angel Investor Wants You to Know: An Insider Reveals How to Get Smart Funding for Your Billion-Dollar Idea,” by Brian Cohen and John Kador (McGraw-Hill).

Cohen is chairman of the New York Angels, the leading seed investment organization in New York City, and he was the first investor in Pinterest. With Kador, a well-known business book author, Cohen shows startups how to:

•Position a business for angel funding.

•Develop investor pitch presentations.

•Meet, negotiate and team up with angel investors.

Q I gather that you think the job market industry is in the midst of a huge transition to a more technically driven recruitment process than most of us are accustomed to dealing with. Correct? — J.Y.

A Correct. If I blew off the likelihood that big how-to change is ahead for job seekers, I'd be responding with similar sentiments to those expressed by Ken Olson, who, as president of Digital Equipment Corp., is famously quoted as saying in 1977:

“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.”

Email career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com; use “Reader Question” for subject line.

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